Panthers president Morrison recalls his move to NFL

Published: Saturday, August 16, 2014 at 11:34 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, August 16, 2014 at 11:34 p.m.

Danny Morrison was in his third year as Wofford athletic director when he received a hand-written note from billionaire alumnus Jerry Richardson that would eventually alter his life’s path over 20 years later.

It was 1987 when Morrison opened the letter marked “confidential” and read one concise sentence that would ultimately have major repercussions in changing the sports landscape at his college, in the state, and across the Southeast.

“Going after an NFL team for the Carolinas,” Richardson informed Morrison.

It was simple and right to the point, but with a whole lot of weight to those few words. It would be over six years later when Richardson uttered his now famous triplet of “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” to all those back home while attending the Oct. 26, 1993 press conference in Chicago that announced the Carolinas had been awarded the NFL’s 29th franchise.

Morrison still held the same role at Wofford during that time and recalls, “sitting there glued to the TV and like everybody else I remember those three ‘thank you’s’ to everybody across the Carolinas for their support. There were other cities in the race and people forget that it was mostly perceived that the Carolinas were a long-shot to get a team, but Mr. Richardson had so much tenacity.

“It’s fun to look back now and see the execution of somebody’s vision.”

Morrison spent a sizeable portion of a recent practice working his way along the sideline fencing that separates fans from the training camp practice fields at Wofford. He took time for personal chats with both adults and children that’s probably not part of the normal training camp work schedule for most presidents of NFL franchises.

He then took time to reminisce about the early days to his present time as the Panthers president, a role he accepted in 2009 after spending five years as athletic director during a particularly fruitful tenure at Texas Christian University.

“This was a special place called TCU that I didn’t know that much about and my wife, Peggy, and I found it to be an incredible place,” Morrison said.

“There was great leadership there and we hit it at a really good time, we got lucky. We had really good teams, oil and gas were good, and when oil and gas is good in Texas, everything is pretty good. We were able to do some good things there.”

Morrison, a 60-year-old charismatic bundle of energy still maintaining an athletic frame that doesn’t appear all that far off from his days as a basketball player at Wofford in the mid-1970s, could’ve happily retired at TCU. After a career that included coaching high school athletics in his hometown of Burlington, N.C. and a stint coaching collegiately at Elon, Morrison made the difficult decision to go from coaching to administration in taking the athletic director job at Wofford.

He figured that would be his one bold move, the leap from the everyday involvement of a team to overlooking a school’s entire umbrella of athletics. Even if his career took him to larger institutions, he never thought about doing anything outside the college realm.

“I had never thought at all about professional sports until I got the call from Mr. Richardson,” Morrison said. “I was so excited to have the chance to come and work with him and the kind of organization that he’s represented from Day 1 — from Spartan Foods to the Carolina Panthers. His five core values have always rung true — hard work, harmony, teamwork, listen, and respect. They’re still prevalent in the Carolina Panthers organization. I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to come work with him and his organization.”

Morrison called the offer to come work for the Panthers totally unexpected.

“Coming out of the blue would’ve been the best way to describe it, and it was an exciting time to get that call. Obviously I had a lot to learn and still have a lot to learn. But I’ve always loved sports, I love the competition associated with sports and there’s no better competition than the NFL, where the margin between winning and losing is so miniscule. I think all of us that have the good fortune to work in intercollegiate athletics or professional athletics, we’re all lucky and blessed to be able to do something that we love doing.”

<p>Danny Morrison was in his third year as Wofford athletic director when he received a hand-written note from billionaire alumnus Jerry Richardson that would eventually alter his life's path over 20 years later.</p><p>It was 1987 when Morrison opened the letter marked “confidential” and read one concise sentence that would ultimately have major repercussions in changing the sports landscape at his college, in the state, and across the Southeast.</p><p>“Going after an NFL team for the Carolinas,” Richardson informed Morrison. </p><p>It was simple and right to the point, but with a whole lot of weight to those few words. It would be over six years later when Richardson uttered his now famous triplet of “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” to all those back home while attending the Oct. 26, 1993 press conference in Chicago that announced the Carolinas had been awarded the NFL's 29th franchise.</p><p>Morrison still held the same role at Wofford during that time and recalls, “sitting there glued to the TV and like everybody else I remember those three 'thank you's' to everybody across the Carolinas for their support. There were other cities in the race and people forget that it was mostly perceived that the Carolinas were a long-shot to get a team, but Mr. Richardson had so much tenacity.</p><p>“It's fun to look back now and see the execution of somebody's vision.”</p><p>Morrison spent a sizeable portion of a recent practice working his way along the sideline fencing that separates fans from the training camp practice fields at Wofford. He took time for personal chats with both adults and children that's probably not part of the normal training camp work schedule for most presidents of NFL franchises.</p><p>He then took time to reminisce about the early days to his present time as the Panthers president, a role he accepted in 2009 after spending five years as athletic director during a particularly fruitful tenure at Texas Christian University.</p><p>“This was a special place called TCU that I didn't know that much about and my wife, Peggy, and I found it to be an incredible place,” Morrison said. </p><p>“There was great leadership there and we hit it at a really good time, we got lucky. We had really good teams, oil and gas were good, and when oil and gas is good in Texas, everything is pretty good. We were able to do some good things there.”</p><p>Morrison, a 60-year-old charismatic bundle of energy still maintaining an athletic frame that doesn't appear all that far off from his days as a basketball player at Wofford in the mid-1970s, could've happily retired at TCU. After a career that included coaching high school athletics in his hometown of Burlington, N.C. and a stint coaching collegiately at Elon, Morrison made the difficult decision to go from coaching to administration in taking the athletic director job at Wofford.</p><p>He figured that would be his one bold move, the leap from the everyday involvement of a team to overlooking a school's entire umbrella of athletics. Even if his career took him to larger institutions, he never thought about doing anything outside the college realm.</p><p>“I had never thought at all about professional sports until I got the call from Mr. Richardson,” Morrison said. “I was so excited to have the chance to come and work with him and the kind of organization that he's represented from Day 1 — from Spartan Foods to the Carolina Panthers. His five core values have always rung true — hard work, harmony, teamwork, listen, and respect. They're still prevalent in the Carolina Panthers organization. I've been blessed to have the opportunity to come work with him and his organization.”</p><p>Morrison called the offer to come work for the Panthers totally unexpected.</p><p>“Coming out of the blue would've been the best way to describe it, and it was an exciting time to get that call. Obviously I had a lot to learn and still have a lot to learn. But I've always loved sports, I love the competition associated with sports and there's no better competition than the NFL, where the margin between winning and losing is so miniscule. I think all of us that have the good fortune to work in intercollegiate athletics or professional athletics, we're all lucky and blessed to be able to do something that we love doing.”</p>